BIC America F12 Subwoofer Review!

[@NeedleDropRules]

For the crossover to work, you need to change the switch on the back from 5.1 to Prologic. Then you can adjust the crossover

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

@@NeedleDropRules I did do that, and it does enable a low pass crossover to the sub, but not a high pass to the speakers.

[@NeedleDropRules]

@ coolio. Either way, I wasn’t happy with this sub. It went back, and I’ll get something else.

[@MeTuLHeD]

You should check out the Starke Sound SW12. Definitely fits into your whole 'frugal' theme and performs amazingly for the price.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

@@MeTuLHeD yes, I would like to check out some of the gear from Starke.

[@Squishmallows24]

When I got into home theater this was my first subwoofer

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Yes, is a great "starter sub." Many start with a much less capable subwoofer!

[@theradicalof1764]

Been looking at the BIC for a few months now. as soon as i get into my new place I'm going to jump in and get one. Thanks for the great vid. Angel: "I am the special guest." Viewers: claps "Bravo BRAVOOO!" Angel: "I'm also a great camera girl" Adjusts the camera with her little beans. Angel: "I think this shot is too stagnant: Lets try a resting Angel. . . No it needs more excitement: My booty and a swishing tail!" swish swish swish wiggle wiggle wiggle

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

I would try to buy it soon if you can. The price is only going up! Overall, angel is a good cat. She really does not like visitors tho. Most are greeted with growls and hisses, some recieve a nip or two if they get too friendly. She loves me tho and is pretty nice to me most of the time.

[@foodformen3170]

Where are you finding these for $200?

[@fireinside1984]

Don't think you can.

[@MikeVotruba]

@@fireinside1984 It used to be that price. I have 2 of them.

[@holmessph7]

Just bought one new, in box, $175

[@MikeVotruba]

@@holmessph7 Nice They are great subs...I have 2 of them. Just purchased a PL200II as well. This thing hits the lows!!!

[@leosalas41ify]

​@@holmessph7 Where?

[@ChrisLee1353-c6e]

You can a capacitor through the signal chain to the speakers to filter out the low frequencies in your speakers. So the lack of cut-off really isn't a big deal.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

This is true, it would just be nice if it was built into the sub, especially for this who don't want to hassle with installing a capacitor.

[@mjl6425]

Nice review man! I just purchased one of these and can’t wait to hear it. But you said the crossover didn’t work? Do you have it hooked up with the one RCA cable or through speaker outputs?

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

The low pass filter do3es work when running it in stereo mode, but I was having issues with the high pass filter when using the speaker level inputs and outputs. Seemed to me that frequencies below 80hz were still going to the speakers. Not sure, I could be doing something wrong. How are you planning to use it?

[@mjl6425]

@@TheFrugalAudiophile I’m not sure yet. I have a 20 year old Kenwood receiver that only has one RCA preamp sub output. I plan to hook that straight to the input of the sub. Or connect My left and right main speakers to the speaker terminals on the back of the sub, then connect wires on the output side to the receiver speaker terminals if that makes any sense. At that point I guess I could mess around with crossover settings.

[@SamuraiGuy]

@@mjl6425 Did you flip the receiver-type switch? One way disables the crossover knob because your receiver is supposed to take care of that.

[@mylessmith272]

Hey man, I have a question the “sub in” port on the back what type of cord do I need to use? To get sound from my tv to the sub?

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Standard mono RCA cable..

[@rickcorel5154]

Preiter sub? What is it? Thanks !!!

[@ronaldweed6103]

Would this work on the Fluance ai61 speakers?

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Yes, those speakers have a sub output so it would be pretty easy to connect the F12 to them. You would plug a cable from the sub output on the Ai61's to the RCA jack on the back of the sub. I am not sure if that enables a crossover in the speaker or not so that's something to consider. If they do than set the F12 to dolly digital mode and adjust the volume to match. If no than it will be a bit trickier to implement. You would want to know around about what frequency the Ai61's start to roll off and then set the subs low pass (crossover) frequent there. I use mine with a MiniDSP and let it set both the low pass for the sub and high pass for the speakers I am using.

[@williamwelke8306]

Have you been able to review the bic america pl 300? I've never heard of this company and I'm stuck between this, klipsch, or svs. How would you compare this brand to the others?

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

PL300 has some great specs and goes below 20hz. However, I have not heard so I cant speak it its sound quality. But, at $430 I would like at the RSL speed woofer for about the same price or an SVS during one of their factory outlet sales. Since they just releases the 1000 pro series you should be able to get the original 1000 series for around $400. I actually picked up a SB1000 a couple of years ago during their factory outlet sale for $350! It is certainly a better sub than the F12, not sure about the PL300 tho.

[@williamwelke8306]

Thank you for your response. I think im going to have to go with svs

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

@@williamwelke8306 Good choice !

[@stevenjack23331]

@@williamwelke8306 I have a BIC RTR-EV1200 sub and it's great for movies but literally garbage for music. I would go with SVS. SVS is superior to Klipsch. Klipsch used to make good speakers up till 2011. In 2011 Audiovox bought out Klipsch and they are becoming high priced garbage. If this BIC sub is like the RTR-EV1200 then it's trash for music. Not hacking on BIC cuz I have 4 RTR-EV15 speakers powered by 2 Crown amps @450wpc.

[@stevenjack23331]

If this has the switch for Digital 5.1 6.1 7.1 reciever/Pro-logic reciever the sub crossover will be bypassed if switched to Digital reciever. On my RTR-EV1200 sub it's on digital beings my reciever has crossover control, LFE, subwoofer level control and sub adaptive control. The RTR-EV1200 is garbage for music but not sure about that sub you're talking about.

[@chemicallust77]

Much too close to the wall...especially for a rear ported sub

[@harikillampalli1660]

Subwoofer box size

[@cnhhnc]

25Hz at -3db is fine for people who don't have large rooms, especially if you're not a base head, lol. At $200 it does fine. I run an old Boston Acoustics with a Bash amp 200 watt RMS, 600 watts peak 28Hz at -3db and my wife never lets me run it much above 80db, lol. At 85db and above it rattles anything on the walls. Does it hit low frequencies? Not to 20hz but that's OK. Movie effects usually get a "turn that down" from my audience, lol! Different strokes for different folks. Elacs are great. I have the larger B6s and they kick ass down low. I've measured output from these bookshelves that almost reach 33 hz for a 6.5" two way? Really? How is that?

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Very true! It works great for movies in smaller rooms and even better for music. Thanks for watching!

[@seanohara1608]

Which Boston sub?

[@cnhhnc]

@@seanohara1608 Pretty old at this point. Got it at the old Circuit City for half price ($200, $450 MSRP). The B.A. XB6 12". 200 watt Bash Amp. 600 watt peak power. Been pretty reliable, not the best but OK.

[@seanohara1608]

@@cnhhnc thanks for replying. I have been picking up a lot of Boston speakers and really living them. Was wondering which are the better sub models that stand the test of time

[@BLANCANELLYGAMEZORELLANA]

I have one BIC F12 in a room 30 x 20 feet and it punches hard.

[@leosalas41ify]

It looks like a foam surround not a rubber surround.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Yes, it’s definitely rubber. I can tell when I touch it.

[@43wagonwheel]

$200? $451 now.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Just check on amazon and it's going for $300 -- which is more than it was, but better than $450. Are you sure you weren't looking at the BIC PL200? It's currently priced at $430.

[@Indianawhiskeyandbourbon]

266 on Amazon right now. Just bought one a little bit ago.

[@rickcorel5154]

Preiter sub? What is it?

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Something from Jamo or Klipsch would look a little better in a similar price range. Obviously, opening more on something from REL, SVS or RSL would look better.

[@rickcorel5154]

@@TheFrugalAudiophile I asked what "Preiter" word meant.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

@@rickcorel5154 Is that your way of telling me I have a spelling error in my video description? :)

[@rickcorel5154]

@@TheFrugalAudiophile Simply was trying to understand was it something I had not known, or it was your grammar error.

[@wadepippins1824]

Really the cat

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Yah,, she has to be in the middle of everything!

[@robertrobitaille320]

Nice review, have now a second of these BIC sub since 1 week... it does make a difference. Would not go back to one sub. I like the look of these and features. They have a 300 version. Notice that after receive my second. They say goes at 17 Hertz. Bummer but than price much higher. Heard once you hear that type of sub you don't want to go back. I live in and appartement so my neighbor might not like it! So may point less to have. Any how compare to my Yamaha sub I had it rock, now two wow.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Oh, I am sure it is a lot better than your Yamaha sub! I have not seen the 300 version. Is it a larger driver or amplifier? I have dual SVS SB12 NSD's in my theater and yes, once you have bass below 20hz you never want to go back!

[@robertrobitaille320]

@@TheFrugalAudiophile Seem to be brand new model.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

@@robertrobitaille320 Yes, I looked it up. That's very interesting! Although, at $425 it has some steam competition from brands such as HSU, RSL and SVS.

[@robertrobitaille320]

@@TheFrugalAudiophile Much expensive in Canadian dollars. Don't have problems with my cross over. But when you two sub. The automatic switch does not work when you put a DVD, only when one sub.

[@mjl6425]

Nice review man! I just purchased one of these and can’t wait to hear it. But you said the crossover didn’t work? Do you have it hooked up with the one RCA cable or through speaker outputs?